


Bad Idea!

by Confuzledsheep



Category: The Locked Tomb Trilogy | Gideon the Ninth Series - Tamsyn Muir
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Coming of Age, Drama & Romance, F/F, Hook-Up, Internal Conflict, Internalized Homophobia, More like a resident assistant AU, Slow Build, implied lesbian sex, kind of?, post one night stand
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-06
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:14:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 15,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27411778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Confuzledsheep/pseuds/Confuzledsheep
Summary: Coronabeth has just ruined her life. She just slept with Camilla Hect. And now she needs to figure out how to keep it under wraps- and hopefully kill her powerful feelings for Camilla in the process.However, all her friends are gossip hounds- and her feelings are probably more reciprocated than she originally thought.
Relationships: Camilla Hect/Coronabeth Tridentarius
Comments: 14
Kudos: 38





	1. Oh No

**Author's Note:**

> The working title for this was "Corona the Clown" lmao
> 
> Please note that there are some dynamics around being a closeted lesbian and exploring lesbianism as a whole. Mostly revolving family pressures. There's a lot of trying to understand romantic feelings as well

Coronabeth Tridentarius really fucked up this time.

Well. Maybe not entirely? But probably. This was going to bite her in the ass sooner or later. 

Hopefully later. When she was 40 and had accepted that these things happen, when she could write it off as harmless experimentation. 

Because that’s all this was going to ever be. Not to her, to her it would be far, far more than that, but… she couldn’t risk this being more than a mistake of youth. 

Focus Corona! Evaluate the situation! Don’t make this worse than it needs to be! 

Luckily for her, Camilla was still asleep. 

Fuck. Would leaving before she woke up make this worse? Probably. She wasn’t trapped in Camilla’s arms, which was nice. Enabled some movement. 

Not like Camilla’s arms were _bad_ or anything! It's just that she would probably just flounder her tongue if she tried to say anything while wrapped in them. 

Blindly feeling around the nightstand beside the bed, she found a phone- not hers. Cam’s phone was boring with its plain black case. The lock screen was cute though- her and Palamedes posing for a photo at some random research location, the hints of a smile on their respective faces. 

7:30 AM. 

How many hours of sleep was that? 4? 5? 

Oh god, she probably looked like ass. 

Sitting up, she squinted as she looked around the room, having little trouble finding her metallic purse. Slowly shedding the embrace of the blankets and trapped body heat, she slowly tiptoed over to her purse, fishing out her phone amongst the receipts and loose change and half-melted tubes of lipstick. 

Damn. 56%. That’s pretty good. 

Goosebumps puckered on the vast swaths of bare skin. Another bite of shame. The cold made her nipples _extremely_ hard in a very unsexy manner. Flicking on the selfie camera, she couldn’t restrain a sigh. 

Most of her makeup was probably on Camilla’s pillow (Sorry Cam, good luck getting the purple shimmer eyeshadow and waterproof foundation out), she had impressive eye bags, and the skin of her neck had essentially been removed and replaced with the dark skin of a plum. 

Damn she really, really fucked herself over with this one. 

Climbing back into bed, she had no qualms about plugging her phone into Cam’s charger, checking the pillow for makeup stains- surprisingly there were none to be found. 

...Not her problem right now. She should try and get at least another hour of sleep in. 

Or she could think about literally _everything_ that led up to this, like the overthinking fool she was. 

Coronabeth Tridentarius, contrary to popular belief, did _not_ have her life together. 

She acted like she did though! And she was damn good at acting. 

College was going to be wild, she knew that. She was ready for that! For the first time in her life she could drop the lie of being some medicine whiz kid and could release herself from the shackles of her parents. She could pursue her fascination with genetics and evolution and be left to her own devices, to make as many shitty mistakes as she wanted. No one gave a shit about Biology students who didn’t have to take the MCAT. 

But then her shitty mistakes started involving women. And not because they were like. Just kinda part of it? No.

Coronabeth Tridentarius was a lesbian and she didn’t know what to do about it.

Letting it go public would be the end of her. Yes, she was friends with lesbians, and while they were absolute disasters, Cronobeth didn’t realize she was so flattered by Gideon Nav’s flirting freshman year because she loved compliments. She liked it because it was from a fellow _lesbian_. She liked it because _another lesbian found her hot._

And while their flirting didn’t work out, It did make Coronabeth contend with a reality she never thought she would have to contend with. Like. What do you do with that? 

How hard are you allowed to think about yourself? Is this part of becoming a person? Or was Corona just way behind the curve? She could act like a straight woman too focused on her career to think about men for a while, she bet, but could she do it forever? 

Apparently, she couldn’t do it for a year. 

A year! It had been two since Gideon flirted with her that fall of their first year. Gideon had moved on to some weird deal with Harrowhark (Were they dating? It looked like they were, but Corona thought it would be best not ask, especially because they seemed to have history.) and she had been left to process her feelings about the ordeal, do a shit job of it, and then develop a horrible, nasty, tumorus crush. 

On Camilla Hect. 

Which snowballed when they started taking classes together. Corona was amazing at keeping it together, looking and acting like normal. Didn’t stop the erratic heartbeats or clammy palms, but she could sit through the discomfort, the panic, the sheer terror of sitting next to Camilla in their genetics course, hands getting way too close to brushing during labs. 

She was fine! It was going fine. It was all going great when she didn’t think about how tempting it was to touch herself to the mental image of Camilla’s abs. The thought of hands grabbing at her wrists and hardly letting go sent her absolutely wild and left her with a sour taste in her mouth. 

Disappointment with a large dash of shame. 

Was she like? A pervert? Did this make her an absolute creep? Coronabeth didn’t believe in like, the biblical hell that her parents supposedly did (Only when it was convenient for them to believe) but would this coming to light throw her into a proverbial hell? Hell on earth? 

Not even Gideon knew about this year-long mental torture. That being said, Gideon was as dumb as a goddamn rock. Harrow didn’t give a shit in general, and Palamedes didn’t pay all that much attention to her. Ianthe was in that weird Lyctor Scholarship program, and Babs was busy sleeping with other theatre kids, and doing lord knows what else. 

So she was left to her own devices. To be a miserable little fool who was now staring at an unfamiliar desk because she was way too panicked to actually go back to bed. 

She wanted to reach out and touch Camilla's bare skin. She knew it was within reach. It had been under her palm just hours earlier- but now it was like crossing a line. Touching Camilla felt like a violation of trust and Professionalism- even if it was the only thing she truly wanted to do. 

Is this the bit where you cry a little because everything sucks? Or do you do that once you get home and you’re wiping your makeup off while extremely hungover trying to keep up a good speed so you can eat your fast food breakfast before it gets cold. 

Like. How low could she keep this? Would this haunt her? Would it make it easier to cut ties? Corona prayed for the latter but knew deep down it would be the former. 

With this knowledge, she now presented herself with a choice. Keep this professional by not cuddling up to Cam under the guise of sleep and suffer through some _mean_ yearning as a consequence, or get some more sweet, sweet skin on skin contact before she left. 

The chances of her listening to a CD that made her sob like a goddamn infant in the car was pretty high, and thus her chances of crashing and promptly dying were also higher, so she put on her metaphorical dunce cap and slid across the surprisingly soft sheets to the warmth of Camilla’s body.

_Note to self: Burn a new mixtape titled “Songs to Crash your car to”_

Corona didn’t have the heart to look at Camilla’s face, so she settled on being a shitty approximation of a little spoon. She got very close to devolving back into her musings about how this was a proper fucking mess when a muscular arm was swung over her torso. 

If Camilla was awake, her breathing pattern was fucked to all hell. She was breathing slowly, as if she was asleep, but… is wrapping your arm around someone something people normally did in their sleep? Corona didn’t know. 

She moved closer to Camilla anyway. If Camilla was awake, god forbid, and did that on purpose, she may as well just lean into it. 

She hated how she wanted to get used to this. 

But she didn’t have the time to think about lovely what-ifs. There was a high chance of Palamedes being around- with Dulcinea to boot.

Wait. Cam lived alone. Well. Maybe Palamedes would be around? Him and Can were inseparable. Even if he technically lived in the Lyctor Scholarship house thingy he spent a lot of time over here. 

Cam was lucky she was the Resident Assistant for the campus apartments… Coronabeth was stuck with the first-year hall. Hopefully, none of her residents had burned the whole place down. 

‘Dorm hall burns to the ground in a popcorn related incident.’. Add that to her ‘my life is over and in not even 30’ bingo. Along with ‘Sleep with a Coworker’, ‘Get officially disowned’, and ‘sleep with men in a shitty attempt to rebound and then hate yourself for the rest of your life over it’. 

Well. She's got one of those squares checked off. Every residential life staff meeting from here on out was going to be hell for her. 

Cam’s head shifted in her sleep and Coronabeth wanted so badly, perhaps more viciously than she's ever wanted anything in her life, for Cam to kiss the back of her neck. To kiss the back of her neck lazily and sleepily and murmur out some words of sweetness as the sun rose. So badly. She wanted this so badly it hurt. 

Wanting. Corona just couldn’t stop _wanting_. 

And it was going to become a huge problem. 

Because the sun was streaming through the window, its rays casting through the dusty air to insult her. She looked out upon it from the shadow of the corner where the bed was shoved, watching it move across her purse, dripping gold. Light that would burn her sinful skin if she stepped foot in its rays ever again. 

Was this how Ianthe felt? Was this why she hated the sun so much? Is this why she was now relishing in her golden era, her time to shine? The sun was now shining on the one who once hated it, and the one who was born of it would now suffer by its hand. 


	2. New Domesticity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How are these things supposed to go? Coronabeth didn't know hookup etiquette!
> 
> She _did _know that Camilla was a great cook.__

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This if for the three Cam/Coronabeth fans out there. Have some more Gay Shit.

A cheery, tinkling alarm pulled Coronabeth from those most philosophical thoughts. She was considering reaching out to grab Camilla's phone to silence it, but the body behind her shifted, grabbing the source of the noise and flicking it off. Camilla had leaned forward, more skin pressed against Coronabeth’s own. 

“Good morning.” Camilla said, apparently not giving a shit about all the physical contact. 

Coronabeth’s tongue had conveniently become a very large slug. Stuck to the underside of her jaw, slow and useless. “M. Morning.” 

She felt the limbs over her shift, Camilla sitting upright. Corona thought it would only be polite to do the same, keeping the covers pulled up over her chest to preserve some form of modesty. Camilla apparently didn’t care, chest completely bare. 

Coronabeth decided to settle on eye contact, as painful as that was. 

“You hungry? I can make breakfast.” Camila stated. As if this was like. Totally normal and not potentially a fireable offense. Was it? Was dating another RA something that would terminate your contract? 

“Uh. That would be great?” She didn’t mean to suggest a question at the end, but Camilla understood her well enough, climbing out of bed (over Corona) and throwing on some tank top and really loose (yet somehow tiny) shorts. God, she just really didn’t give a shit about being completely nude around Corona. That felt like trust. She now felt even worse for all the times she considered Cam’s body the subject of any sort of sexual feelings. 

“You’re free to borrow some clothes.” Cam added, before just, walking out of the bedroom. 

The thought crossed her mind to give Camilla’s discarded clothes a sniff, like a proper pervert, but Corona resisted. She did take the offer of spare clothes. Well. Tried to take it. She found a ratty old shirt two sizes too big for Cam that covered everything important. It left a little belly hanging out but that was fine. Cam’s shorts were way too small on her, forcing her into her underwear from the previous night. Which were like. Super gross, but all she really had at her disposal. 

Corona checked her phone, shocked to find like. No notifications. At all. Suspicious. She was expecting Ianthe to just magically know she fucked up and start immediately insulting her for it. 

She should leave her phone alone for now. 

Navigating the apartment wasn’t really a problem- she was a frequent guest of Gideon and Dulcinea's apartment, so she knew the basic floor plan. 

Gideon and Dulcie had far more decorations though. Made the place look less dreary. Camilla wasn’t really a person for personal touches. The bathroom looked hardly lived in, only the bare essentials neatly organized in the medicine cabinet. 

The cold water she splashed on her face forced her pores to get it together, and she profusely thanked the god looking down upon her (probably with eyes full of shame) for the fact she had a mini pack of makeup remover wipes in her bag. 

Although when she saw her bare skin she realized she probably should have left it on. Eyes tinged with red, some scrappy bits of mascara that refused to budge. The bag under her eyes were dark- but not as dark as the hickeys. 

God. Her horny brain was freaking out, but the more rational part of her was furious. Having to use makeup to cover those up for the next few days was gonna suck. 

Also that Jeannemary girl who lived across from her would probably notice and would absolutely gossip with Issac, and also with Gideon, who would let it slip to Palamedes, who may slip it to Ianthe, and maybe Judith, who may tell Magnus, and if Magnus finds out she may have to go in for a conduct meeting and if that happens-

Coronabeth groaned, raking her hands down her face. She needed to take care of her hair and then face Cam. She could be brave. She could take off the metaphorical dunce cap and make it happen. She was known for it! She was an outgoing person who was trustworthy and blunt and didn’t lie! 

Right? She. She was all of those things, wasn’t she? 

Pushing the thought from her head, she grabbed the widest comb Cam had and ran it through her curls. They looked surprisingly good, considering everything. At least she had that going for her. 

Ok. Time to face the hottest girl in the goddamn world. 

Puffing up her chest, she put on her best smile in the mirror- and watched it half-falter. 

This was going to be hard, but she was pretty sure she could get through it. 

The kitchen was small, with no decor. A few things on the fridge- mostly sticky-notes. RA papers. A whiteboard with tally marks but no explanation. 

Camilla looked really focused on a large cast-iron skillet. Fancy. Is this what she cooked all of her weird health food in? 

“Whatcha makin’?” 

“Sweet potato hash with chorizo sausage and sage, along with other herbs.” Camilla said, like it was the most normal thing in the world. “Would you like eggs in it?” 

“If you’re offering. That uh, sounds pretty fancy.” 

Camilla shrugged, walking past her to open the fridge and fetch two eggs, along with handfuls of greens and some fruits. 

“Are… are those going in the hash?” 

“Hm? No. These are for me.” 

“You’re not going to have any?” 

Camilla shook her head.

“Oh. Well alright then.” Was this a weird athlete thing? Coronabeth tried to focus on being softly baffled to keep herself from combusting with how domestic Camilla looked. Casual clothes were not new territory, but uh. She also had a good necklace of hickeys and some… Impressive scratches down her back. 

Ah. Those were definitely from her nails. 

Taking the chance to check, she restrained a sigh over the fact that her cute purple nail polish had chipped somewhere along the line. Couldn’t be helped now, but still tragic. 

Camilla blended herself a smoothie, flipping the hash every few minutes. Coronabeth knew there was no issue with sitting on the counter, so she promptly hauled herself up, trying not to squeak as the cold marble touched her essentially bare ass. 

The scent of herbs and the spice of the meats filled the kitchen, and Coronabeth did allow herself to stare a little at the back of Camilla’s legs. Just her legs. Totally not her ass.

Why was she so keen on making this harder for herself!!

The eggs sizzled and hissed in the oil as Camilla placed a large lid atop the skillet. Did she do this often? She was certainly a meal prepper, Coronabeth knew that. Was this preplanned? On the fly? Cam was good under pressure and a spectacular pitch-hitter but she… wasn’t a huge fan of spontaneity like Corona was. 

Camilla turned the heat off on the stove, carefully scooping up a heaping portion onto a plate. Garnishing with some fresh herbs, she grabbed a fork and passed the plate to Corona. 

“This looks great Cam, thank you!” 

“It’s no problem.” She said, sipping away at her green sludge. Corona had no idea how the hell she managed to drink that every day. 

_Especially_ when she could cook food this good. It was perfect. Not overcooked, not raw. The sweet potatoes were crisp on the outside, fluffy within, and went great with the fried egg and the bit of heat coming from the sausage. The herbs were also a great touch!

“Holy shit this is excellent.” She said, uncaring of the light layer of oil that coated her lips. 

Camilla probably had something to say in response, but she settled on a soft smile instead. 

Breakfast continued in a… not awful silence. Not suffocating, not blatantly awkward. It wasn’t all that awkward because no one bothered to make it awkward by talking about the previous night. 

Corona finished, wiping her lips with her arm like some sort of animal. “I… I would hate to overstay my welcome, I should probably, uh… Leave.” 

Something flashed through Camilla’s face for a split second, before it was once again covered by her usual neutral expression. “Oh. Uh, if that’s best for you.” 

Getting off the counter, Corona brushed some of her hair back, trying to not look like a total fool. “I don’t really. Uh. Know how these things work but. Thanks for last night, it was. Uh. Good. Like. Really good.” 

“Oh,” Camilla said, smartly. Maybe it was wishful thinking, but Corona thought for just a moment, Camilla blushed. “Uh. You’re welcome. You can… keep the shirt.” 

“Really? I don’t want to just take something from you, that seems rude.” 

“Think of it as uh… souvenir.” 

Coronabeth was certain this wasn’t what you were supposed to do after a one night stand (?) but she gave Camilla her best poster girl smile before turning away to return to the bedroom. 

This shitty marathon tee shirt was absolutely going to be turned into a pillowcase. Even though it probably didn’t even smell all that much like Camilla. 

Oh my god, that was so creepy she absolutely shouldn’t do that, even if it was like. Super fucking tempting. 

Pulling herself back together, the contrast between her clingy purple miniskirt and Cam’s ratty shirt was hilarious. Definitely, something that would maybe raise some eyebrows. She could withhold from a bra, it was only a few minutes to drive and she was smart and wore a big sweatshirt to the party. 

Checking her phone, she was shocked to still not see a single text. Gideon was probably out for the count, they always slept like a log- and a night of drinking and potentially sleeping with Harrow just made them sleep more. Dulcie was always a surprise. One would think her schedule would mirror that of a grandmother, but she literally seemed to be awake 24/7. It was wild. 

“Hey, uh. Do you need a ride?” Camilla asked, standing in the doorway. 

“Nah, I drove to Gideon’s.”

“Ah. Well, um.” 

“Hm?” Coronabeth looked up as she put on her heels, purse already slung across her chest. 

Camilla looked… A bit nervous? Maybe? That seemed so out of character for her, but at the same time, Corona had little trouble believing it. “...It’s nothing.” 

Doubtful, but she didn’t really want to press. There was something Coronabeth wanted Camilla to say so, so badly. But she knew, deep down, if Camilla actually said it, it would be a point of no return. 

Camilla stepped to the side to let her exit, walking her to the door. 

“Have a safe drive.” 

“I will.” Coronabeth said with a smile, suddenly and viscerally aware of how close they were, how close their faces were. 

Camilla nodded and stepped back further into the threshold. 

Coronabeth closed the door. And then walked to her car. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope y'all like this!! I have a [Twitter](https://twitter.com/ConfuzzledSheep) if you're interested! I'm gonna try to keep updating this when I can!
> 
> See y'all next chapter!


	3. The Joy House

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keeping this under wraps was going to be hard, but not impossible. 
> 
> But then Corona remembered that Dulcinea Spetimus existed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Three chapters in one night babeyyyyyyy

Coronabeth wanted to slam her head against the steering wheel. 

God. GOD! What was she doing!! 

This was going to bite her in the ass.

Problem 1. She slept with Camilla Hect. 

Problem 2. She _loved_ it, and loved basically everything that came after it. 

She was now parked in the small lot next to the freshman dorms, far away from the campus apartments. She could handle her own residents seeing her looking like a mess- honesty could lead to trust, and trust was a key component of building community. 

Ugh. She sounded like Magnus. There was nothing deep about this. She was just stupid and arguably, cowardly. 

Moping in her car was doing her no favors, but what else was she supposed to do? Think too hard about last night and feel like a super, mega tier weirdo when it inevitably made her hot and bothered because she enjoyed it because sex was _enjoyable_ and having sex with someone you were _in love with_ (???) was spectacular? 

Nothing about her being super into Camilla was weird from a biological or psychological standpoint. She didn’t want to like. Kill Cam or anything! The level and nature of her feelings were normal! 

Right? Oh god, what if they weren't. Did normal people have impulses like that? Like. The impulse to bury your face in your partner's sheets or clothes? That was normal, right? Or at least not weird? 

Corona was good at resisting those urges because they were _weird_ and _creepy_ so naturally she never acted on them. But the thought was there and was the _thought itself weird?_

She should talk to her therapist about that. 

But Abigail would tell her to actually like. Tell Camilla about her feelings. Maybe? Well. Abigail understood the potential problems that would come with being outed, so she may not encourage talking to Cam about it. 

Who was she kidding Abigail would absolutely tell her to get it together. 

With a great and dramatic sigh, Coronabeth got her shit and got out of her car. Slinking up the small flight of stairs at the side entrance closest to her room, she was extremely grateful it was Saturday, and hardly anyone was out of their rooms at this hour. Most of them were probably up at brunch, gorging themselves on whatever they had to offer up there.

Not like it would ever hold a candle to the breakfast Cam made her. 

Unlocking her door, she was so glad she decided to clean her room before the party- made her feel like she had more control over her life. 

Closing the door behind her, she locked it on impulse. Dropping her purse to the ground, she kicked off her heels, pulling the sweatshirt off of her head. 

_OK, what the hell are we gonna obsess over for the next hour._

Pulling Cam's shirt over her head, she tossed it onto the bed before working off her miniskirt and panties, throwing them in the vague direction of the hamper. Her bra was also flung in that general direction. 

She needed to shower. Maybe some cold water could wash away the horny. 

Wrong. 

Yeah, fat chance that would work. But still, she felt better, scrubbing all the caked sweat off of her. She's worked a proper sweat up too- it was almost remarkable how little she cared about the stickiness of her skin before the passed out. 

Washing her hair made her think about how it felt to push Camilla's hair behind her ear, how it felt to run her hands through it, grip it as she gripped the side of Cam's skull. The surprise that came with finding out Cam had an undercut hidden on the back of her head, covered most of the time by her cropped black hair. 

She wanted to bang her head against the wall of the shower to knock the dirty thoughts right out of her brain. God. She was going to be thinking about this for weeks, maybe even months. 

This was going to haunt her- one of these days she's gonna be taking a very important exam and her brain is gonna go _hmm… titties_ and she's just gonna have to deal with that, huh? 

And she's gonna have to deal with whatever social rift happens, if a rift happens at all. 

She checked her phone upon returning to her room, groaning as she looked at her messages. 

Dulcinea had texted. 

_Dulcie: So_   
_Dulcie: I heard you slept with Camilla last night_

Oh she was like. So fucked right now. 

_Coronabeth: Who told you_

_Dulcie: Palamedes_

Hm. The plot thickens. There were a lot of assumptions that could be made from that, and Coronabeth was going to make all of them and then see how it shook out. 

_Coronabeth: Did you spend the night with him?_   
_Coronabeth: Or did he just text you??_

_Dulcie: Yes_

_Coronabeth: Care to Elaborate????_

_Dulcie: No ❤️_

Yeah they absolutely fucked. 

She was in the process of drying her hair when a notification vibrated her phone. Expecting a text from Dulcinea, she was surprised to find one from Naberius. 

_Babs: hey can you come pick me up_

_Coronabeth: yeah where_

Tossing her towel across the room, Corona grunted as she sat up. Naturally, Babs had gone home with someone last night and was then too chickenshit to ask them for a ride home. Whatever. That’s what she was here for. To cart Her sister and Babs around like a personal chauffeur. 

Lazily getting dressed, Coronabeth checked out her mauled neck in the mirror once more. It was absolutely going to require a turtleneck, but even besides assessing the damage for practical reasons, she just liked _looking_ at the marks. 

God, there were a thousand grossly romantic things she could be thinking about these marks, but those thoughts needed to be suppressed. She needed to be Coronabeth the Good Sister, not Coronabeth the Lesbian. Separate entities. 

Pulling the turtleneck over her head and fluffing out the mass of her hair from the neck, she gave herself a look over in the mirror before heading out the door. 

Babs had sent her an address, and as she drove through the residential streets, she realized she’d been here a few times before. He wasn’t sitting on the curb to greet her, but he made it down from the apartment promptly enough after her text. 

“Mornin.” She said as he let himself in. 

All he had for her was a grunt. 

She didn’t speak further, driving them back towards campus. 

“Hey, can we go to swing by Ianthe’s?” He asked. 

“Sure.” 

He probably left something with Ianthe. Coronabeth thought it best not to ask. The Joy House wasn’t an ordeal to get to anyway. A bit on the outskirts of town, but not crazy far away. 

Still, an odd property purchase from the college. A weird ass mansion from the 1880’s. A good distance away from the campus too- like they were trying to separate the Lyctor program students from everyone else. 

Well. It got Ianthe out of her hair. Coronabeth was heartbroken about it at first, being extremely unused to separation, but after three years? It was the best. 

Pulling into the gravel parking area that took up the entire front yard, Corona opted to sit and wait for Babs to whatever he needed to do. 

_'That was fast.'_ She thought, looking at the front door swinging open. 

It wasn’t Babs. 

Coronabeth felt the color rush off her face like someone just pulled the drain on a sink. On that rickety ass porch of the house that should, by all means, be falling apart, was Dulcinea. And Palamedes. 

And they were looking _directly_ at her. 

Dulcinea waved, gentle smile underlying the glee of a shark thats been sniffing blood. Her arm was linked with Palamedes, and she dragged his gangly body down the stairs to the drivers side of Coronabeth’s car to interrogate her properly. 

Screwing her eyes shut, she massaged her temples to pull herself together before rolling down her window. 

Dulcinea spoke first, practically leaning into the car. “So.”

“...So?” 

Dulcie’s smile was so wide she was going to pull a muscle in her face. Coronabeth felt like a bird being forced to stare headfirst into the maw of a cat. “I heard that you stayed over at Camilla’s last night.” 

“...You texted me about this. Yeah. I did.” 

_“And?”_ She said, leaning even further forward. 

“And????” 

“Dulcinea…” Palamedes said, placing a hand on her shoulder. 

She pouted childishly. “What? I think it’s fair to ask, considering-” 

“Maybe you two should… Discuss this later.” He said. “When… you know. You’re not here.” 

Coronabeth was eternally grateful for Palamedes. He was so goddamn good at minding his own fucking bussiness. On the outside at least- she knew full and well he _loved_ to pick people apart, which was one of the reasons why him and Dulcie worked so well together. He also understood the dynamic between her and Ianthe better than most- also, he likely heard all of this from Camilla, and he would take any secret she gave him to the grave. 

It took Dulcie a moment to realize what exactly he was talking about. “Oh! Oh but of course!” 

“I’m going to be taking Babs back to campus- you want a ride?” She asked, leaning a bit out the window to better talk to the pair. 

“That would be lovely!” Dulcie smiled.

Palamedes expression shifted a little- probably wanted to be a gentleman and drive her back, but he knew this would be a far efficient method or return. 

Dulcinea turned to say something to Palamedes when the front door slammed open and a familiar voice rang across the gravel and dead grass. 

“ _Coronabeth Ida Tridentarius!!_ You come all the way out here and don’t spare me a hello?!” 

Great. Great. This was great. Coronabeth was going to be found out and her life was going to crumble to pieces. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and kudos are appreciated!!!!!!!!!! I got a [ Twitter](https://twitter.com/ConfuzzledSheep) if you wanna check that out!
> 
> See y'all in the next chapter!


	4. Interrogation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Coroabeth Processes her night with Dulcinea and Gideon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a bit long whoops! I hope you all like it though!
> 
> Please keep in mind this is a bit of a slow chug- I'm working on writing the oneshot of what actually happened between Coronabeth and Camilla from Camilla's perspective, but that will be a separate and very NSFW fic.

Ianthe slinked down the shitty porch steps with all the grace of a prowling snake. Coronabeth sighed as quietly as she could before getting out of the car. She hoped her hair covered all the parts of her neck her turtleneck couldn’t. 

“I thought Babs would be quick- didn’t wanna disturb your beauty sleep.” She said. Trying to resist the bony embrace her sister gave her would be stupid, so she didn’t. 

The difference between them was comical. Ianthe was lean and graceful, the physique of a model and the matching style of one. She was fashionable, she was modern, she was ambitious, and she was absolutely fucking brilliant. 

Coronabeth could no longer tell if Ianthe’s supposed care was real or just an act. But they were both good at acting, she could play the role she had too. 

“It’s almost noon silly! There are things to do, I can’t afford to sleep all day.” Ianthe said, her voice airy and sharp as she stepped away from her sister. 

“True.” 

“You look awful, were you partying?” 

“Yeah.” 

Lying to Ianthe was pointless. Coronabeth wasn’t smart enough to play mind games with her, especially right now. All she could hope for was Ianthe not prodding into all the wrong ideas. 

“Hm.” Ianthe responded. Coronabeth raised an eyebrow, expecting another comment. 

She didn’t get one. 

Babs stumbled out of the front door, and being very used to Ianthe’s bullshit, merely walked past her to get in the car. 

“I think that’s my cue to leave.” Coronabeth said, feeling like a fool. 

“I think it is. We should talk tonight- I’ll call you at 7.” 

It wasn’t a request, it was an order. Corona nodded. “I’ll talk to you then.” 

Ianthe made her way back into the house, and Coronabeth looked away respectfully as Dulcinea gave Palamedes a kiss goodbye. 

The ride back to campus was quiet. 

Babs got dropped off first. He thanked her with a grunt. The second he left, Dulcie leaned forward from the backseat.

“I want to hear  _ everything.”  _

“Here?” 

“You can come to the apartment- we have leftovers. I’ll make you some tea and we can chat!” 

...There was something very tempting about talking to Dulcinea about this. Maybe it was because Corona loved to talk. Maybe it was because Dulcinea always seemed extremely trustworthy, her gentle demeanor practically  _ invited _ people to bear their souls to her. 

“...Sure.” 

The drive to Gideon and Dulcinea’s apartment was short. Dulcinea’s crutches clicked up the small ramp to the porch. 

Coronabeth didn’t realize her mind was swimming through a haze until Dulcinea placed a cup of fragrant tea under her nose. 

“It looks like Gideon is out, so we have the place to ourselves.” She said, taking a seat at the table across from Corona. She took a dainty sip of tea before resting her chin in her palm, giving Coronabeth the smile of a carnivore. “So.” 

A sigh pushed from her lungs, and she shoved her tense shoulders down. “So. I slept with Camilla.” 

“ _ And?  _ Was it good?” 

“Yes.” 

Dulcinea gestured to her turtleneck. 

There was no point in hiding things from Dulcinea, so she tugged the collar down, trying not to let the blood run to her face. 

“Holy shit.” 

“Yeah.” 

“So you like.  _ Yanno.”  _

“Yes, we did. And it’s gonna be a problem.” 

“And  _ why  _ exactly is it going to be a problem?” Dulcinea smiled at her, this time, with legitimate sweetness. 

“Because it was. Like. Good, and I want to do it again and she cooked me breakfast after and I’m somehow more into her now than I was before but one, we work together, and two, if Ianthe finds out or if my parents find out I’m screwed!” 

“What are the chances you’re parents are gonna find out?”

“Well, low, but I have no idea what Ianthe discloses to them. So if she finds out, then they probably will?” 

“Ok, how will she find out.” Dulcinea asked, taking another sip of her tea. 

“I don’t know! She’s a gossip hound and if she had dirt on me? God it would be like Christmas for her!” 

Dulcinea thought to herself for a moment. “That’s a good point… Does Camilla know this?” 

A snort. “No.” 

“Does she know  _ anything  _ about this?” 

Coronabeth shook her head. 

“ _ Corona!  _ You need to  _ communicate  _ to your girlfriend!” 

“Woah, slow the fuck down, Camilla and I are  _ not  _ dating-” 

“YOU AND CAM ARE DATING?!” 

Both Corona and Dulcie turned to look at the front door. Gideon stood at the entryway, motorcycle jacket in their arms, helmet already on a peg by the door. 

“No! Cam and I aren’t dating!!!” 

“But they did fuck-”

“Dulcie!!” 

Gideon’s amber eyes widened, mouth shifting to a goofy smile. “Damn, get it Corona!” 

Coronabeth could only groan, face in her hands. 

“Aw come on, don’t be sad! Cam’s a little scary but she’s nice! You know that!!” Gideon said, giving her a solid pat on the back. “You should go for it! Unless the sex was bad then don’t.” 

“Shut upppp” She groaned.

“Hey man, it’s gonna be ok!” Gideon said. They were always so goddamn optimistic… “I can always beat up Ianthe for ya if you need!” 

“Please don’t send her to the hospital she’ll sue the shit out of you.” She groaned. Gideon gave her a quick squeeze of a side hug before releasing her, sprawling out in the free chair next to Dulcinea. 

“Corona you are  _ extremely  _ flushed right now.” Dulcinea noted with a small smile. 

“I knowwwww…” 

“Ok, Give us a play-by-play.” Gideon said, basically folded over the table. “So you were here, at the party.” 

Corona nodded, looking around the apartment. It looked… Really clean? Didn’t look like there was a party there less than 24 hours earlier. “Yeah, I was here.” 

“Palamedes helped me clean.” Dulcinea said, noticing her confusion. “And you were here, and Camilla was also here.” 

“Yes.” 

“And?” Dulcinea pressed. God she was absolutely eating this up. 

Coronabeth had every right to say No to this. Dulcie and Gideon could respect that, she was pretty sure. They may pout a little but they respected her enough not to press too far. But if she said no, she wouldn’t have anyone to talk about this with…

Fuck it, let's just spill it. “Ok. So. I’m in the kitchen, making myself a drink. Cam comes in, probably a smidge buzzed. Like all flushed and stuff. I ask if she wants a drink. She nods.” 

“Cam drinks?” Gideon asked. 

“I think she only does so when she doesn’t have to keep Palamedes and Harrow alive.” Dulcinea added. 

“Yeah I was surprised she was drinking but didn’t think much of it. I ask her what she wants, she just kinda points to the fridge, which I was blocking. I’m trying not to freak because tipsy me was suddenly convinced she was staring at my legs.” 

Gideon piped up. “Oh she totally was.”

“How can you be so sure?” 

“I saw it.” 

“Then why am I explaining it if you saw it!” 

“Because I didn’t see it! Palamedes and I were in my room.” Dulcinea said. Her statement immediately drew shocked looks. “What? Do you all not expect me to have a little fun at my own party?” 

“Wait if you were already with Palamedes at the party then why did you go over to the Joy House?” 

“If it’s because of Me and Harrow I’m so sorry.” Gideon added. “Also this is already sounding complicated.” 

“It’s really not that complicated… Also When I’m done with this we’re getting everything from you Dulcie. And then you Gideon I wanna know what the hell your deal is with Harrow.” 

“Me and Harrow fuck sometimes it's not that big of a deal.” Gideon said, crossing their arms.

“Oh, it's more than just fucking.” 

Gideon sputtered at Dulcinea’s comment, trying to find a way to dispute it, but realized they couldn’t so they shut up. 

Coronabeth had long since finished her tea, more than happy to watch Gideon and Dulcinea discuss if Gideon and Harrow were dating or just sex pals. 

“Ok, enough of this- Coronabeth, finish your story.” Dulcinea said, apparently sick of trying to deal with Gideon avoid their feelings. 

Condensing this into a single, coherent narrative was causing Coronabeth a great many problems, but eventually, she was sure she figured it out. “Ok so, kitchen. Camilla is staring at my legs as I reach into the fridge. I’m hung up on the attention but hey, what else is new. So I get her a beer and I turn back to face her and she’s like. Totally blushing. I ask her if she’s ok, if she’s had too much because I’m worried yanno!” 

“Oh my godddd she was totally staring at your ass dude…” Gideon chuckled. 

“Hey, who’s telling the story here? Me. So she shakes her head and I’m like  _ ‘weird, but ok’  _ so I reach out to hand her the bottle and she grabs my wrist and I’m like ‘ _ huh?’  _ and she like… looks like she’s tryna say something but can’t? Then she goes  _ “Hey can I try something?”  _ and I’m like  _ “Sure, why not?”  _ and she like, leans forward and kisses me and I tried not to implode.” 

Dulcinea looked absolutely  _ enthralled. _ Gideon also looked pretty amped, and dramatically fist pumped when Coronabeth got to the kiss. 

“So, I’m trying not to die because it’s  _ great  _ and like I took a step forward and she put her free hand like on my hip so I was like  _ ‘Oh this is like a serious kiss’  _ and she’s like half dolphin or something because it felt like we kissed for 30 minutes when it was probably like 15 seconds or something. And we pull away and she’s like.  _ Right there  _ in front of my face and even though I was wearing my Hoe Heels and I was like way taller than her I was like ‘ _ Damn ok I want you to be over me right now’ _ And she went  _ “Would you want to come home with me”  _ and I was like  _ “Yes I want to come home with you”  _ so we walked to her apartment and uh. Yeah.” 

Dulcinea now looked almost surprised. “That... “ 

“Was fast.” Gideon said, finishing their roommate’s thought. 

Coronabeth shrugged. “I mean. Did y’all expect something crazy complicated? She asked me if I wanted to fuck and I said yes because I do, in fact, want to fuck her, and she was like  _ ‘Cool’  _ and then we fucked.” 

“And yet, you are convinced that she’s not all that into you.” Dulcinea said. 

“Ok, when did I ever say that?” 

“Like. When you first told me about this and you were like  _ ‘she has no reason to like me back’”  _

“Ok that was like months ago.” 

“You also stated it when you texted me at three am last week.” 

Coronabeth had no response to that. 

“Ok but like. What did you  _ do  _ when you got to her place?” Gideon asked. 

They weren’t even fazed by the look Coronabeth shot at them. 

“We had sex. Intercourse. We fucked.” She said. 

“Ok And???? Was it good??” 

Coronabeth pulled down the collar on her turtleneck, feeling somewhat smug as Gideon’s eyes widened. “Yes, it was good.” 

“Holy shit it looked like she tried to maul you.” 

“You should see how she ended up.” 

Gideon’s jaw dropped. “Oh shit!!!” 

“Anyway I woke up an hour before her, freaked out, and she ended up spooning me in her sleep, and then we woke up and she made me breakfast. It was very good. Dunno why she had a smoothie.” 

Dulcinea looked like she was about to rip some her own hair out. “She made breakfast for you!?” 

“Yeah.” 

“Like  _ just for you?¨ _

Coronabeth nodded. 

“Coronabeth, sweetie I don’t know how to tell you this but I think she wants to date you.” 

“...How is making breakfast an invitation to date?” 

Gideon and Dulcinea groaned at the same time. 

“Ok, lets go over the evidence,” Gideon said. “She kissed you unprompted, and then immediately asked if you wanted to go to her place.” 

“Yes.” 

“You then went to her house, which she invited you too, and had great sex.” 

“Yep.” Coronabeth withheld the fact they were very handsy all the way to Camilla’s apartment, turning a two minute walk into something more along the lines of five. 

“She then let you sleep over, spooned you, and then cooked breakfast just for you.” 

Coronabeth nodded. “She also let me borrow a tee shirt. And it was a very fancy breakfast. Sweet potato hash with eggs and chorizo and herbs.” 

This detail made Dulcinea drop her head into her hands in defeat. “That’s so sweet of her…” 

“Ok I know this is like, your life and not mine, but do you understand just how like. Gay that is. Like If I were you I would have  _ proposed _ at this rate.” Gideon said. 

“Just because she made me cum six times and made me a fancy breakfast doesn’t mean she’s madly in love with me!!” 

_ “SIX!?!”  _ Gideon and Dulcinea cried in unison. 

“She was really enthusiastic!!” Coronabeth said. She was extremely red, unbelievably flustered by all of this. 

“Corona, Corona babe oh my god. Please. Please love yourself and ask her out. I’m begging you.” Gideon said, head completely buried in their hands. 

“No!!” 

“Why not!?” They cried.

Emotions were high, Corona could feel the stress of this mounting in her stomach. She didn’t know why she was so panicked, but she was. Everything seemed to escalate super quickly, even if they didn’t intend for that to be the case. 

In the rush of panic and embarrassment, her thoughts consolidated, the truth finally slipping from her lips. 

“Because I’m  _ scared, Damn it!”  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoyed!!!! Comments and Kudos are really appreciated!


	5. Deadlines

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Coronabeth accidentally gives herself a deadline on this whole thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this fic is starting to reach decent levels of just straight bullshit but oh mt god is it fun to write. SO you will all just have to keep dealing with it.

“Gideon, Corona, let’s… take a bit of a deep breath.”

Normally, Coronabeth would be offended by such a statement, being treated like a child like that, but it was different when it was Dulcie. 

Gideon visibly relaxed their shoulders, sinking back into their seat. Coronabeth tried to collect herself. 

“So yeah. It was great, I want it to be that way forever, but I’m straight up terrified as to what may happen. Like… I don’t think I’m ready for a relationship? Like I am, but at the same time I’m not. Also, I can’t gauge what Ianthe would do with that information, and like. This is the sort of thing that could make my life wat harder than it needs to be.” 

Dulcinea listened intently, nodding. 

“And like, living with these feelings suck, but also, I… God, its so hard to choose between what I believe to be safety and something that would make me very happy. And… I’ve had no time to think about what the hell I’m gonna do. So. Yeah.” 

A slim and delicate hand reached across the table, resting on top of her own. 

“We’re here to support you, Corona. I know I say this all the time, but… I mean, I’ll support whatever you choose, but also. We’re here! We’re here now, we’ll be here whenever!” Dulcinea smiled softly. 

Gideon nodded. “Yeah. Sorry we pressured ya like that… Dick move on our part…” 

“It’s… It’s ok. I’m glad I was able to talk about it because it was. Uh really great but. Yanno. I still need to think about what this gonna look like moving forward. ...Why am I talking about this like I’m at work…” 

Standing up, Gideon patted Coronabeth on the shoulder. “Professionalism is a disease, get well soon.”

“I’ll try.” 

“You want something to eat? You’re free to stay for dinner.” Dulcinea said. 

“Oh I was planning on it. I wanna know why you ended up at the Joy House last night.” 

Gideon nodded in agreement as they walked to the kitchen. 

Dulcinea curled a lock of hair around her finger, trying to look as innocent as possible. “Well… It’s a long story…” 

“You don’t need to tell us about the dick, so don’t worry about that.” Gideon said, striding back to the table with a protein shake in hand. “So. Party.” 

“Well, he came early to set up, which was sweet of him.” 

Gideon flicked the cap of their drink, forcing Coronabeth to almost fall out of her seat to avoid a collision. They didn't seem to much care, scoffing at Dulcie's remark. "Well he's totally whipped for you so of course he did." 

Dulcinea rolled her eyes. "So he came early to set up and to help me get it started, but once things were going well enough he had a small conversation with Camilla and then I asked him to join me in my room to get away from the noise." 

"Ok, connection there? Was Pal trying to hype Cam up or something?" Gideon said, motioning between Coronabeth and Dulcinea. 

“Oh, maybe he was! I wasn’t thinking about that,” Dulcinea admitted. “Should I ask him?” 

Coronabeth and Gideon shrugged. 

“I’ll ask him later. So, we went to my room to get away from the noise, had some fun-” 

“Like, sex or just hanging out?” Gideon asked. 

“Not much more than some kissing. I wasn’t about to exhaust myself in the middle of my own party!” 

“Fair.” 

“So we were in my room, then came back to the party as it started winding down. By then you were gone, Coronabeth, and Gideon was busy chatting up Harrow. By the time most people started leaving Gideon and Harrow were already being noisy in Gideon’s room so we cleaned as fast as we could and then went to Joy House.” 

“And  _ then  _ you fucked.” 

“Yes, Gideon.” 

Ok, not all that interesting of a story, but it made sense for Dulcinea and Palamedes. Coronabeth was certain Dulcinea was leaving out details, but she was fairly sure she didn’t want to know those details anyway. 

“Right, yout turn Gideon.” Coronabeth said. 

Dulcinea leaned forward, resting the heel of her palm against her cheek. “Yes, please enlighten us.” 

Gideon sighed, ruffling their hair. “Ok, so, party. I spent most of it just talking to people because you weren’t around. I’m minding my own business on the couch when I see a black twig walk past me. I’m like  _ ‘weird’  _ but I ignore it. Then I go  _ ‘Oh shit that’s Harrow’.  _ Ya see, I invited her but she turned me down, so I wasn’t expecting her to show up. I stand up to look for her, find her in the kitchen shoving a bottle in Vodka in her purse, and go  _ ‘Hey. You showed up.’.”  _

Yeah, that seemed like a Harrow move. 

“And she glared at me, in that classic Harrow way, and then I was leaning against the fridge, flexin a little, yanno how it be. And The she kinda stood up like she was about to leave and I was all  _ ‘Hey don’t you wanna stay for a little while longer?’  _ and said  _ ‘Give me one reason to stay.’  _ and then I flexed a little more and winked at her and then the rest is history.” 

“You’re absolutely embellishing, but sure.” Coronabeth said. “And I assumed you took her home on your bike?” 

“Yep. She hated it, as she always does.” Gideon grinned. 

Coronabeth didn’t want to touch whatever Gideon and Harrow had going on with a 10ft pole. “Right. So. We all had eventful nights. Now what do we do.” 

“Well, Palamedes is my boyfriend, so I certainly  _ hope  _ I don’t have to do anything.” Dulcinea said. 

Gideon nodded. “Harrow is a bitch but she gives  _ great  _ head so. I think I’ll keep our arrangement.” 

“Wow I really didn’t need to know that.” 

“You, on the other hand…” Gideon continued, ignoring Corona’s comment. “Need to think about what the hell you’re doing here.” 

“I know, Gideon. Can we just move on?” Coronabeth groaned. “Like. If I give you an update on this by the end of the week will you be happy?”

A  _ classic  _ strategy. Worked great when she wanted to procrastinate at work. She had yet to apply it to real life, but was surprised to see that it actually worked. 

Dulcinea nodded, Gideon seemingly agreeing with her. 

“A week. You have a week to try and sort this out.” 

Coronabeth absolutely just hammered the last nail in her own coffin, but she nodded. “Deal.” 

Oh she was screwed. 

It took her mind a while to wander back to Camilla, and everything that had happened the previous night. She was far too occupied by churning through her conversation with Gideon and Dulcinea and also trying to actually get homework done. Dinner at the mess hall was boring, and she slunk back to her room just in time to receive a most dreadful phone call. 

Slumped at her desk, Coronabeth answered the phone. “Evening.” 

_ “Good evening.”  _ Ianthe said from the other end. Her voice always sounded way too good, way too realistic in phonecalls. Never as warped as it ought to be. 

“Uh, anything in particular you wanna talk about?” Coronabeth asked, messing with her hair on habit. 

_ “Oh, nothing in particular. Just wanted to see how you were holding up.”  _

“I’m doin alright. Swamped with work and school, but that’s normal for me. How’s your research going?” Coronabeth asked. That question was usually enough to set Ianthe off on some tangent about Phages and various virus research. 

_ “It’s going fine. I think you should come over sometime.”  _

Every alarm in Coronabeth’s head was going off in that moment. “Uh, can I ask why?” 

She could hear Ianthe shrug.  _ “I don’t know. Perhaps I miss seeing you in person, dear sister.”  _

Just hearing that made something sour seep into Coronabeth’s mouth. “I… I think I should be free on friday?” 

_ “Lovely. Now, I’m afraid I must go. See you then, Coronabeth.”  _

Ianthe hung up before Coronabeth could even say goodbye. 

Great. A new deadline. Love this. 

Plugging in her phone, Coronabeth sighed, standing up and shuffling to bed. She didn’t feel ashamed at all of stripping down to the skin, slumping into her piled up comforter. She fucked Camilla last night- wasn’t that enough for her? Was she truly so desperate, so unsatisfied? 

Well, she wasn’t aching to get off, but something about lying naked on her bed quelled some feeling within her. A desperate need for… Touch maybe? Like, grasping at a hollow facsimile of being in bed with Camilla that morning? 

Shoving her head into her pillow, she groaned. She was thinking too much. Far too much. 

She was ok. She was alive. Camilla hadn’t texted her. Gideon and Dulcinea had sworn to leave her alone. 

Breaking everything down could be tomorrow Coronabeth’s problem. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Get ready for more bullshit social situations next chapter!!!!


	6. Meteor Impact

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Coronabeth hears some bad news

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All of this is so petty I love it and I hope you all like it too. I love writing drama it's the absolute best.

The trudge to the mess hall was extra cold on Sunday morning. 

Having squandered her Saturday to gossip and excellent breakfasts, Coronabeth hadn’t gotten quite as much done as she wanted, which left her with a lot to catch up on today. That seemed to be the price of fun. 

She watched some sports team or another run laps around the track as she walked, trying not to look too closely and see if Camilla was in the fray. Shoving her head into her large scarf, she tried to keep her eyes on the prize- a warm meal that tasted somewhat palatable. She should go out to dinner and get herself something nice tonight… 

A glove was waved in her direction. Looking up, Coronabeth saw Jeannemary and Isaac walking beside her, a little out of breath. Must have run to catch up. 

“Morning you two.” She said. “On your way to Cannan?” 

Jeannemary nodded. “Yep! Heard they have the waffle makers out today!” 

“That sounds good…” She mused to herself. 

“Hey, is that the soccer team?” Isaac asked, looking out onto the field.

Coronabeth shrugged. 

“I think so.” Jeannemary said. “God, they practice super early…” 

“Ya think Gideon is out there?” Isaac asked. 

“If they even get up this early.” Coronabeth snorted. 

Both of the freshmen gave her a look.

“You know I’m like. Friends with them, right?” 

“They always said they get up  _ super early  _ to go on runs.” Jeannemary said. They had almost crossed the length of the field by that point, thank fuck. 

Because if it was, in fact, soccer team practice, then Camilla would be there. And Coronabeth didn’t wanna have to thing about that whole ordeal at 10 AM on a Sunday. 

“On weekdays. They get up super late on weekends. Can hardly blame ‘em honestly.” Coronabeth said. She wasn’t outright lying, she was just bending the truth. There was a good reason why Gideon didn’t get up early on weekends, but that wasn’t something she was going to tell Gideon’s little groupies. 

Luckily, they accepted her answer, finally-  _ finally!  _ Clearing the length of the field. 

“Hey, where were you last night?” Jeannemary asked. “It was weird not having you around- someone set off the fire alarm because they tried to microwave rice. I didn’t see you trying to do a head count.” 

Of course the fire alarm went off while she was gone. “A party.” 

Isaac narrowed his eyes. “I thought you were a Taurus-Gemini cusp.” 

“...And?” 

“You’re not 21.” 

Coronabeth raised an eyebrow at him. As if challenging him to report her to Magnus. He never would, they all knew that. “And?” 

“...Ok Nevermind.” 

“Was it the one Gideon advertised on Instagram?” Jeannemary asked. 

She nodded. 

“Ooohhh so that’s why their story was wild-” Isaac suddenly stopped his sentence, staring at Jeannemary. Jeannemary looked back at him. 

They then turned to stare at Coronabeth in perfect unison. 

Something deep in the teenager’s identical gaze told her everything she needed to know. 

An hour later, Coronabeth was knocking on Gideon and Dulcinea’s door. 

Palamedes came to answer. “Hello?” 

“I need to talk to Gideon. Are they here.” 

“I think they’re in their room.” He said, stepping aside wordlessly. 

Palamedes was such a good man. Coronabeth needed to step it up for his birthday this year. (Which they only celebrated because Dulcinea loved hosting parties and he was, as Gideon so often put it, absolutely whipped.) 

She moved past him, not even bothering to hang her scarf on one of the many pegs by the door. Moving down the hall covered in framed photographs, she stopped in front of Gideon’s door, knocking loudly. 

“Gideon Nav if you don’t open this  _ fucking  _ door I’m sending you straight through the dinner table!” 

Loud footsteps came from behind the door, Gideon’s amber eyes wide. “Please don’t write me up for-” 

“I’m not writing you up Gideon, I’m  _ this close,”  _ Coronabeth almost touched her thumb and the pad of her index finger together, leaving just the barest hint of space. “To knocking your teeth out of your skull and preventing you from ever drinking again.” 

“Damn, fate worse than death.” 

“Why, the  _ fuck,  _ was this on your instagram story!?” Coronabeth growled, showing Gideon her phone and playing the downloaded video Jeannemary sent her. 

A video of Coronabeth and Camilla making out (Pretty intensely) in the kitchen of Gideon and Dulcinea’s apartment at the party. 

“Hey, easy, easy! That’s a priv account. Who sent that to you anyway?” They asked, taking the risk of stepping out of their room and into the hallway. 

“Jeannemary. After both her  _ and  _ Isaac made the connection. If they have it, then lord knows who else have it!” 

“Corona, hey, I think it’s gonna be fine-” 

Coronabeth was pissed. And she did stupid things when she was pissed. Like pinning Gideon to the wall in an attempt to intimidate her. “You know news travels fast around here. We have  _ no idea  _ how much damage this could cause.” 

All Gideon did was make a noise like a deflating Balloon. 

“Coronabeth, unhand her please.” 

She did, Dulcinea’s words knocking some sense into her enraged mind. “Sorry.” 

Gideon just stared stunned for a minute. 

“I… Look, sorry. I just… got really scared for a moment.” 

“No you’re like. Ok. Uh, I should have told you I posted that…” Gideon said, scratching the back of their skull. They were blushing. They probably felt something from being overpowered by her. Coronabeth was going to ignore that idea for now. “I… Shit.” 

“It’s… not super your fault? I just. I dunno. I guess its a new problem I’m gonna have to deal with I guess?”

“Can someone please inform me as to what has gone wrong?” Dulcinea asked, resting her chin in her palm and looking up at the extremely tall lesbians before her. 

“I posted a video of Coronabeth and Camilla making out at the party when I was hammered and I forgot about it.” 

“Until two of my residents, who follow Gideon’s priv, saw it and showed it to me.” Coronabeth finished. 

Palamedes, who was standing behind Dulcinea’s wheelchair, gained a look of uncharacteristic surprise. 

“To finish your super loud thought Palamedes, I don’t think Camilla knows, and No, I haven’t texted her at all. Although you probably already knew that last bit.” 

“I did. That being said, could you send the video to me if I requested so I could relay it? Unless you want to send it to her yourself.” Palamedes stated, fixing his glasses. 

Coronabeth’s look of… Helplessness? Shame? (She didn’t even know anymore) told him everything. 

“You have my number, send it to me and I’ll relay it.”

“Speaking of the Camilla incident…” Gideon started. 

“Oh, is this an  _ incident  _ now? Also, shut up or I’m legitimately going to knock your teeth in.” 

Gideon shut up. Dulcinea looked unbothered by the affair. Although she did giggle as Palamedes bent down and whispered something in her ear. 

“I have things to do. I’m done bitching, so unless y’all need me here, I’m gonna go.” Coronabeth said, shoving her phone into her pocket and starting to walk out the door. 

Palamedes must have seen something she didn’t, but he tried to say something. Sadly, it was cut off from Coronabeth’s mind, leading to her only processing a pathetic little “Ah.” 

Coronabeth opened the front door and came face to face with Camilla Hect. 

Or, as it’s better put, Camilla came face to tit with Coronabeth.

“Oh, Sorry!” Coronabeth said, taking a step back from the doorway. 

Camilla looked up at her like a meteor had just crashed to earth at her feet. 

“Ah, Cam. Come on in.” Palamedes said, hoping to make this less awkward. 

God, he really was perhaps the best straight boy to ever exist. 

Camilla entered, stepping past Coronabeth. 

The minute she had the chance, Coronabeth stepped out the door. 

Was it a dick move? Yeah, absolutely. Did the sight of Camilla still make her stomach churn? Absolutely. 

The look. The look that Camilla gave her. Like she was clothed in the sun itself, one of the most majestic things she had ever set eyes on. It made Coronabeth feel like a  _ god.  _

But at the same time, made her feel like the most unworthy thing in the world. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all like it!! See you all next chapter! Comments and Kudos are really appreciated, especially because Camcor is a rarepair.


	7. Slow Week

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Coronabeth tries to go about her daily life, to varying degrees of success.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hehehoho an update
> 
> yes this a lot of time passing all shoved into one chapter but please believe me when I say that shit will go down in the next few chapters

Most of Monday went smoothly, if Coronabeth could ignore the ache in her ribs. 

God, she felt like such a fucking fraud. 

Coronabeth prided herself on being realistic. She knew that just because two people were infatuated with each other didn’t mean they were going to last. What if Coronabeth peeled back the layers and Camilla decided she didn’t like her all that much anymore? What if she didn’t really know who Camilla  _ was?  _

The spiraling thought continued. How could she minimize the damage if they actually started dating? If something went wrong, would the benefits outweigh the risks? Relationships were imperfect, she knew that, but the risks were still scary. 

It was, in theory, worth taking a risk on. The chances it would go absolutely unbelievably horrible were low, but there were still  _ there.  _

_ But this could always go great. It could go amazing. This could be  _ **_it!_ **

Coronabeth tried to shake that idea from her mind as she fixed her hair in the mirror. The marks on her neck were still healing, obviously visible but way lighter than they were on Saturday. 

Much to her relief, Gideon found that no one else had downloaded the video they shared, so that was probably not going to bite her in the ass. Still left a bad taste in her throat though. 

She would, shamefully, admit to watching it. More than a few times. It captivated her, for some reason. Like how people liked those weird home-footage indie films. The shakiness, the weird lighting.

In the video, the apartment was dark, the only light coming from the kitchen, which was divided from the dining room with a half-wall. Private, yet exposed. 

Coronabeth towered over Camilla in the endlessly looping footage. Her hair looked surprisingly good for the bad quality. Camilla looked good in her charcoal button-up. 

Was she vain? For wanting to watch herself? To want to watch herself and Camilla? Watching it made it seem real. Like it wasn’t some ornate fever dream. 

That being said, it made her feel awful. She needed to keep herself occupied. 

Her evening was better spent doing homework (something that was actually productive) and thinking about Camilla’s spectacular hands. (Something that wasn’t productive at all.) 

One would think, with how much she thought about Camilla, considered  _ being  _ with Camilla, and… God, she sounded like some victorian lady saying this, but  _ lusting  _ over Camilla, she would be more willing to jump at the idea of shared feelings. Camilla’s body felt so  _ good  _ next to hers. As they slept, as they fucked. 

Just being in the same room would probably make her feel at ease- if only she could get over the butterflies.

She liked Camilla, and Camilla maybe even liked her back. And it was something she still couldn’t handle.

God, fuck. She had class with Camilla tomorrow… What the hell was she going to do? 

Books laid out before her, she groaned, head slumping into her hands. What was she going to do? Act like everything was ok?

Distancing herself from Camilla seemed to be an easy option- but that could be read as hostility. She didn’t hate Camilla! She was just confused and on a deadline and so, so new to this. 

She was totally unfamiliar to love. She suffered with this crush for  _ months  _ but still, somehow, couldn’t handle these feelings in the slightest. It was almost frustrating how useless she felt in that moment- unable to control her own feelings. 

Thinking about mentally bashing her feelings apart with a hammer helped her calm down enough to finish working. 

Making sure she didn’t sweat through her shirt due to nerves was a problem for her in the morning. 

Camilla wasn’t in class. 

This was not immediately alarming. Coronabeth liked arriving early. So did Camilla. When Camilla wasn’t there early, it was weird, but not like the end of the world- she would turn up in time for the lecture, surely. 

And then she didn’t. 

Palamedes sat next to her, the seat normally occupied by Camilla left empty. She gave Palamedes a look. He cast her an indecipherable one. 

Class started. 

She didn’t ask questions during the lecture. The minute class was dismissed Palamedes looked at her, and she looked at him. 

“Do you-” 

He shrugged before she could finish. “I have no clue.” 

“That’s… weird.”

Palamedes sighed, pushing back his hair. It looked messy. He looked tired. “I… I’ll try and get in contact with her.” 

Coronabeth packed her bag and swung it over her shoulder, walking alongside Palamedes to their next lecture. He really didn’t look good. Was it because of the Camilla situation? Oh God that made her feel awful. 

“You- shit I’m sorry you’re getting caught up in this I’m so sorry if this is causing you trouble-”

“Coronabeth. I’m doing this because I care about Cam. Also, I really haven’t done much of anything, really. Other than listen to Dulcinea talk about this ordeal.” 

“...Of course she talks about it…” 

He shrugged. “We’re doing this because we care. Also, if she’s gonna be a fool about this I’m not gonna let her see my notes.” 

Coronabeth doubted he would ever do that. He cared about Cam too much. 

Camilla wasn’t in class. Coronabeth didn’t bring it up. Neither did Palamedes. 

That just didn’t sit right with her. 

Tuesday was a blur, followed by Wednesday. 

Camilla was in class, but she hardly seemed able to  _ look  _ at Coronabeth. 

That hurt. Badly. 

Palamedes acted as normal, sticking to Camilla like he always did. Coronabeth did her best casual powerwalk to put distance between her and them on the walks between classes. 

When classes were over, they would go their separate ways. Palamedes and Camilla to the Joy House or the apartments, and Coronabeth to an increasingly messy room and noisy halls. Jeannemary had picked up putting on entire concerts in the shower, and as Coronabeth’s room was right next to the bathroom, she now had to put up with it. 

She wasn’t breaking any rules, so it's not like Coronabeth could have done much about it. A bit unusual at times (Screamo? At 11AM?) but still. That’s just what happened when you shared spaces with people. 

Getting her work done before dinner was a huge success, leaving her with an entire night free. 

An entire night. Free. 

And alone. Because Dulcinea and Gideon both did things on Wednesday nights. 

So she only had her thoughts for company. 

The little lamp by her bed cast a muted warm light through the room. Added some ambiance. Coronabeth didn’t like the harsh white sear of the overhead light at night. 

The ceiling light hurt her eyes when it was 10 PM and she was laying on her bed half naked. Her legs were tangled in her comforter, one hand resting on her stomach, the other hanging limply off the bed. 

She was thinking about Camilla. Because of course she was. 

Coronabeth really, really wished she could stop being horny for at least 24 hours. When she was done with everything else in her life, and there was nothing left to occupy her mind and hands, it always came back to Camilla. She had gotten her fix of love, she thought. She got her fix of adoration and now she could ride that high for a few months or more and then when she wished to be desired again she could go to some shitty party and get her fix and then be done with it. She thought sleeping with Camilla would be a transaction, not an addiction. 

In hindsight, she should have been more wary, but Camilla  _ asked.  _ Camilla  _ asked  _ to kiss her, to touch her. She moved with the upmost respect, treating Cornabeth like a prize- and sure, what if Camilla was in love with her! Like completely, utterly, foolishly in love with her? Could she even  _ imagine  _ such a thing-

Holy shit. Camilla was in love with her.  _ Was  _ in past tense. The fact remained that she may have changed her mind, but. At least for that night, she seemed pretty damn in love. 

Fuck. Fuck that changed everything.

Camilla seemed like the kind of person to lead in an exchange like that with respect. Camilla was a careful and respectful person. Coronabeth knew that. None of her behavior that night seemed out of the ordinary. But… Camilla didn’t sleep around. Coronabeth didn’t even know if she’d even had past relationships. 

Sleeping with her out of the blue like that was unusual, at least for Camilla. For Coronabeth the only new factor was the fact that Camilla was a lesbian and not some shitty frat boy with adequate muscles. 

But, that had to mean  _ something,  _ right?

Camilla asked to  _ carry  _ her to her apartment, as if she forgot how huge Coronabeth was compared to her. She asked to take off her bra, to remove her skirt. She asked and she looked and she touched and  _ God.  _

The way Camilla looked at her. Like she was the sun. It burned into her soul and made her feel eaten alive but also, it made her feel like the only thing in the world. And she  _ loved  _ that.

Unprompted, Camilla’s voice slipped into her mind. 

_ "I… I was thinking something along the lines of worshiping you all night, but I'm open to suggestions." _

Her hands covered her mouth, like she herself had spoken the words. 

Camilla wanted to worship her- and if there was one thing Coronabeth loved, it was being adored. 

Heat flooded her face, and she was suddenly aware of where her skin pressed against the sheets, how the comforter draped across her legs. The air in the room was at once far too cold and unbearably hot. 

Was she really going to try and make a hollow mimicry of Camilla’s touch? How the hell would her hands come even close to the feeling of a tongue? To Camilla’s thin and calloused fingers? 

It wouldn’t be the same, but she could try. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyway I hope you all liked it! Comments and kudos are super appreciated!!!


	8. Poor Excuse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Corona talks things out with Palamedes. Maybe everything will be ok after all!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote a ton of this chapter like weeks ago and I've been waiting to actually put it into the fic lmaooo

Thursday’s classes and labs were boring. Camilla made herself scarce, again, and Coronabeth had to try not to think about her tits while she measured isopropyl alcohol with the world’s smallest and most finicky pipette. 

Did the fantasy of Camilla working directly beside her on research in a physically close and trustingly intimate way cross her mind? Absolutely. DNA extraction wasn’t an inherently sexy thing to do, but doing it with someone she trusted, at least in theory, made it seem far less tedious. 

_ Ok, pack it up nerd. What the hell.  _

Luckily, those OSHA violation thoughts were dispelled the minute she stepped out of the lab. She could leave early, because she knew what the hell she was doing and could get everything done fast. Left her lots of time to go back to her room and confirm everyone’s takeout order. 

The drive to get food was as boring and as uneventful as always, and eventually, Coronabeth was knocking on the door of the  _ Cytherea  _ apartment. 

“Hey, can someone open the door? I got my hands full!” She said. 

The hinges creaked as the door opened, Palamedes waiting in the threshold. He stepped aside to let her in. 

“Apparently, it’s just going to be us.” He said, totally unprompted. 

Coronbeth’s expression told him he needed to continue. 

“Gideon is supposedly at the library with Dulcinea, assisting her with creating a research presentation for her developmental psychology research methods course.” 

Coronabeth looked into the living room, Gideon’s impressive tablet sitting on the coffee table. There was no way Gideon would leave a tool so essential to their graphic design work at home. 

“For some reason, I have a hard time believing that.” Cornabeth said, setting the many plastic bags of food onto the table. 

Palamedes grabbed his food- he could tell just by the shape of the plastic container they always put his stuff in.

Shuffling through the bags, it took Coronabeth a bit longer to assemble everything in her order. Palamedes had already started eating by the time she’d organized all her containers.

“I think this was an elaborate ploy to get us to talk,” Palamedes said, poking at his takeout with disposable chopsticks. 

“‘Elaborate’ is giving it too much credit.” 

He shrugged, taking a bite of chicken. Silence filled the dining room as they ate. 

“Should we get something done to pacify them?” Coronabeth asked. 

“If you want.” 

“...Yeah. I wanna know if I’ve missed my chance. Does she even like me?” 

Palamedes raised an eyebrow, as if she had asked the stupidest question in the world. “You know the answer to that one already, considering she made you...” 

He trailed off, trying to compose a sentence. 

“In the words of Dulcinea, and this is a quote, mind you, ‘She made her cum six times! Who does that for someone they aren’t madly in love with?!’. Again, direct quote, followed by a statement on Gideon and Harrow, but… Is that not an adequate answer for the nature of her feelings?” 

She groaned, putting her head in her hands. Palamedes' Dulcinea impression was remarkably funny, and if she wasn’t emotionally fucked over at the moment, she would be on the floor laughing. But instead she just felt like a stupid asshole. 

“If I may pose a question,” he asked, setting down his takeout container. “What makes you think she’d give up so easily?” 

“...I’m overthinking this whole ordeal.” 

“You know that’s not an answer.” 

“I don’t think she knows me well enough to actually make this work.” 

“That’s why you date someone Coronabeth.” 

“I know, I know… I just. I’m unreasonably afraid that in  _ addition _ to all my personal bullshit, -which I do  _ not _ expect her to single handedly solve by the way- we’re not like… compatible I guess? Like, I’m not stupid enough to think that just because we’re obviously attracted to each other that it’ll work. And even though the chance it’ll fail isn’t any higher or lower than it normally would be, the threat it’s all gonna go to hell is like. A  _ lot. _ ” 

Palamedes had… an interesting expression on his face when she was done. 

“...What.” 

“I think you should give it a chance.” 

“Why. Like. Give me a legitimate reason here. ‘I want you and Cam to be happy’ is a reason but that’s not really the problem here.” 

“I had this exact conversation with Cam on Monday. You have similar methods of thinking. While the way you each handle situations are different, you each seem to have very similar levels of maturity and development in social situations.” 

Coronabeth narrowed her eyes. “Do you mean that in the sense we’re immature? Or do you mean that we’re both somewhat decent?” 

“Decent, if not higher. The reason why Gideon and Harrow both work so well and absolutely hate each other is that they’re both equally immature, but that’s a conversation for another time.” 

Damn, he knew his shit. Or at least talked like he did. That made a whole lot of sense. “...Huh.” 

Palamedes leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms. “Look, I don’t normally get into these sorts of things, because my experience is obviously very different to yours, but I  _ know  _ Cam. and from how often Dulcinea talks, I seem to have a pretty good idea about you. Now, I understand that with all relationships there is always a chance it just won’t work out, but I… heavily suggest you try something with her. I think the risk is much lower than you think.” 

“Did you know you’re the only person in this clown car of a social web who actually gives legitimately good advice?” 

“Well, Dulcinea has good advice on most things, I just don’t think it was particularly helpful here.” He said, checking his watch. “I don’t think they anticipated this to be a quick conversation.” 

“Is there a part in this where you’re supposed to rake me over the coals because I may date your best friend?” 

He shook his head. “No. I don’t believe in that.” 

“Good.” 

“Consider it a returned favor for how you literally never question anything about me and Dulcinea.” 

“Gideon the misandrist has me covered on that. Also, you’re a good dude. I don’t think asshole boyfriends take the time to console stupid lesbians such as myself.” Coronabeth said, finally getting the last grain of fried rice out of the container and into her mouth. 

When she looked up, Palamedes was giving her an unreadable look. 

“What?” 

He shook his head, the hint of a smile on his face. “Nothing.” 

“...Ya think we should text Gideon and Dulcinea?” 

“I can do it.” 

“Thanks. Their food is getting cold and I don’t want them to have to fight over the microwave.” 

Palamedes finished his text, standing up and picking up his trash. “They should be back in ten minutes. I’ll reheat Dulcinea’s food.” 

“And Gideon?” 

“They’re not my girlfriend, so they’re on their own.” 

Coronabeth snorted a laugh, tossing the disposable containers and putting the one worth reusing in the sink. Opening the fridge, she was quite happy to see a wide variety of alcohol at her disposal. 

Eventually, Gideon and Dulcinea returned.

“Sorry for the delay!” Dulcinea said, giving Palamedes an overzealous hug and a slightly dramatic kiss. 

He was completely unfazed by this, a large plate of fried rice in his hand. “I reheated your food for you.” 

“Oh, thank you!” 

Gideon fluffed their hair, gathering their now-cold food from the bags. “Yeah, took longer to assemble than I thought…” 

“It really must have been a pain- considering you left your treasured tablet on the coffee table.” Coronabeth said, drinking an eyeballed mix of vodka and pink lemonade. 

Gideon’s eyes grew to the size of tacky gold painted rims. “Oh. Uh. Looks like I sure did.” 

“Don’t worry. Palamedes and I were just fine talking between ourselves. By the way, am I free to the ice cream y’all got?” 

“Uh sure.” Gideon said. 

Dulcinea sat down across from Coronabeth, sitting beside Palamedes. “So, what’ja two talk about?” 

“Camilla.” Palameds said, bringing some bottle to his lips. 

Coronabeth nodded. 

“Anything specifically?” Dulcinea prodded, swinging around her spoon like a rapier.

Coronabeth shook her head. So did Palamedes. 

Dulcinea looked like she was about to say something more, but Palamedes draped an arm across her shoulder. “So, did you two have printer problems or something?” 

Gideon groaned from the kitchen, poking at their half-reheated food. “You can just  _ say  _ we’re full of shit!!” 

“Sorry, thought we were keeping up the lie to preserve your pride.” He said, raising his beer bottle. “Also, these are good, nice choice on picking these up.”

“Glad you like em! Also Coronabeth bullied me so dragging out the act would have made it even more mean.” 

“I didn’t bully you, I just pointed out the fact that you left your tablet, which you adore, at home.” 

Gideon pouted dramatically. “Well, even if I was a dumbass you got something out of it.” 

“I did, admittedly.” 

Dulcinea had her eyes on Coronabeth, as if she was trying (and failing) to read her brainwaves. 

"I'll come to a decision tomorrow, don't worry Dulcie." Coronabeth said. "For now I just don't wanna think about it anymore, OK?"

While Dulcinea seemed slightly disappointed by the lack of juicy drama, Gideon started going off about Harrowhark, which contained more than enough tidbits to tide her over. Coronabeth was just focused on being tipsy. She fully intended to sleep on their couch for tonight and drag her headache ridden ass to class at 9am the next day. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoy!!! Comments and Kudos are really appreciated!!!!!


	9. Revelation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Coronabeth learns something that really, really complicates things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heeeeeeeeeyyyy uh. Long time no lesbianism. This is for the three other Camcor fans out there!!!!!!!
> 
> If you can't tell I have a Huge Brain so Coronabeth is like 6ft tall and also fat. I didn't want to unpack fatphobia in this fic so It's there, but I'm not gonna make drama around it.

Maybe giving herself a headache was a bad idea.

  
Yeah, some painkillers fixed her right up, but the perpetual ache was getting to her. Her brain was just a little foggy in general for the entire day- even as she drove over to the Joy House. 

The early sunsets that came with fall kept throwing her off. She should not be dealing with glare like this at 5pm. 

Cracking her neck as she stepped out of the car, she shoved her sunglasses into her pocket to be safe. 

Ianthe opened the door before she even made it to the welcome mat. 

“Let’s talk on the back porch, it’s a lovely evening, isn’t it?” 

Coronabeth didn’t argue as she moved through the house. The gothic theme of the exterior bled into the internal decor. Harrow was sprawled on the couch, something playing on the dusty TV. Coronabeth was too tired to pay much attention- her head was still killing her. 

She stood dumbly in the kitchen as Ianthe searched for something in a cabinet. Through the screen door that lead to the porch she could see the sun hovering over the miles and miles of dead grass. 

Smooth as water, Ianthe moved past her, creaking open the ancient metal door. “After you.” 

Coronabeth heard the door slam behind her once Ianthe stepped outside. 

The porch creaked under them as they sat, looking out into a dreary field of dead grass. 

"Care for a drink?" Ianthe asked, pouring herself some mystery booze. 

"I'm driving home, so no."

"Suit yourself."

The only thing that moved was Ianthe's arm and the grass in the wind. 

"You have a confession." She said. 

"I do." Coronabeth responded. She didn't even question how Ianthe suspected it. She just accepted it. 

"Well then, speak up."

"I'm a lesbian and if you tell mom and dad I'm fucked and I will never forgive you."

Ianthe paused, then sighed. "We really are cut from the same cloth."

"You've kept it well under wraps."

"Oh I have with you and father and mother and Babs." Ianthe said, pouring herself some more. "But I've had my crushes."

"Can I ask who."

"Ask away."

"Gideon."

"Ew no. They're a fool, honestly. Too loud."

That was an awfully fast response.

"Dulcinea." 

"She's taken, and even if she wasn't she's far too skinny and she's about to die."

Awfully rich from a woman made of toothpicks and stretched chicken skin. "Harrow."

A dreamy sigh. "Oh, I wish it would work out, but as of right now it isn't in the cards."

That made the Dulcinea comment even more rich. Also a goth? The hell? Weird taste but Ianthe was a bitch so perhaps it made sense she liked people similar to herself. 

Now, out of their mutual acquaintances, that left one option. And option Coronabeth didn't want to raise. 

Coronabeth, however, hated herself and raised the option anyway. "What about Camilla?"

Ianthe hummed, pushed her hair from her shoulder as she took a sip of liquid amber. "Been there, done that. May even do it again."

Coronabeth's stomach dropped straight through the safety hazard of a porch. Asking for details would be playing her hand too early, but knowing Ianthe she may just spill them anyway. 

"Really? Doesn't seem to be your type." Because she's absolutely my type. 

"I know! I never thought it would have worked, considering how… uninviting she is. However, she seemed desperate enough to allow it. It was quite good, she knows what she's doing." Ianthe mused. 

Coronabeth was maybe going to say something. Maybe she wasn't. If she was going to speak, the thought died in her throat as Ianthe's phone rang. 

"It's mother." She said, bored. "You should probably leave, she'll eat up my whole night."

"OK. Night Ianthe. Good luck with mom." Coronabeth said, grabbing her keys and standing up, walking down the steps of the porch and marching towards the driveway. 

"Good luck with your girl problems." Ianthe said after her. 

Coronabeth froze. She was going to turn and ask, but she could hear the sickly sweet tone Ianthe used around their parents coat the walls of the house and all the nearby grass.

She punched down her feelings, got in her car, and drove off. 

Coronabeth didn't know where the fuck she was even going. 

She just drove. And drove. Through the fuck nowhere past the Joy House, through the bullet path straight roads through cornfields and fallow fields. 

There was a town at the end of the road that Ianthe and Harrow and Palamedes lived off of. 

It was small, and shitty. A clear downgrade from the small and shitty town that leeched itself upon the college.

Coronabeth had enough gas to get home and cell reception, so she was free to cry as much as she goddamned wanted in this random fucking parking lot. 

Ianthe was a liar. Or at least someone who loved deception perhaps a smidge more than their own reflection (which was a lot). So perhaps her words were not the best to trust.

That being said, that was far too specific.

And did Ianthe know? Did she know? Is that why she said it, add all those details? Is that why she dropped that ending comment before phoning their parents, putting her in a bubble where she knew Coronabeth couldn't touch her? 

The tears rolling down her cheeks were hot and bitter and stung her skin. Stung something past her skin. What the fuck. Right when she was willing to give something a fucking chance Ianthe goes and potentially ruins the whole thing. 

But would it be considered ruined for her if it had already happened? When did this occur? Was this recent? Did Camilla even like her? 

Coronabeth knew that going straight to Camilla would be the idea course of action here. She knew it. But she was too drunk on her own overpowering emotions to do anything about it. 

Minutes, hours, days later, her phone rang. It was Gideon. Coronabeth didn't even try to pull herself together. 

"Hn?" She grunted into her phone. 

"Hey Corona! Come to a decision yet?"

Coronabeth couldn't let a sob escape her.

"Corona? Are you-"

"Tomorrow- sniff- you'll have your fucking answer tomorrow." She said. And then hung up.

That was extremely rude of her and she probably just made Gideon worry way more than they needed too, but she couldn't get herself to rectify it now. She was hungry. She deserved some food. 

A raindrop thunked against the windshield as she scanned the worn-down signs on the central road. Fast food was probably best. Fries and a milkshake. Strawberry, if they had it. 

Water. She should get some water. And then she should eat, and then she should drive to Camilla’s house and do something super extremely stupid and sabotage any chance of Camilla ever liking her. If Camilla even did like her. Maybe she was too into Ianthe and wanted just some fat knockoff. 

She could hear Abigail's voice in her head chiding her on the use of fatness as a negative quality. That was a hard habit to break, but she was doing better. She shouldn’t wallow over that. 

But _still!_ Camilla slept with Ianthe!!!

Or Allegedly slept with her! Which even if it was untrue, in the moment it just broke her fucking heart! 

Would Camilla dance around this if it was actually true? She seemed like an honest person. Or at least someone who could admit her own mistakes. 

Christ. Coronabeth just felt awful. The food she bought didn’t taste like anything, and that just made it all even worse. 

Her car smelled like grease and icecream and strawberries. Her face was raw and red. She had enough gas to get back to campus, and enough of a voice left to ask Camilla one last thing. And then she could go back to her dorm and collapse.

Her car started with a hum oh-so-faithful, and with gold headlights streaming into the dark, she started her drive home. 

* * *

She could hear every footfall on the wooden stairs to the apartment. The lights were on, Camilla’s car was parked in front. Her keys jingled in her hand. She didn’t plan in staying long. 

Fist heavy against the door, she expected the thundering throughout the wood would bring a rainstorm to drench her as she stood upon the porch. 

Camilla answered the door, eyes widening as she saw her there, like the sun had unexpectedly risen early and it was morning once more. 

“Hey.” 

“I have a quick question.”

“Do you want to come inside?” 

“No. Did you fuck my sister?” 

Camilla’s face told her everything she needed to know. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey check me out on [ twitter ](https://twitter.com/ConfuzzledSheep) if you want!!!


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